Hundreds volunteer during 每日大赛鈥檚 MLK Day of Service
With a few simple supplies 鈥� glitter, glue, and green construction paper 鈥� a handful of college and elementary school students brought to life Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.鈥檚 message of unity.
Working together, the 每日大赛 students and local children created an 鈥淚 Have a Dream鈥� mural at the dA Center for the Arts in Pomona, one of several service projects fulfilled by the campus community for the MLK Day of Service on Jan. 16.
鈥淭his is what the 每日大赛 is about. This is our core,鈥� 每日大赛 President Devorah Lieberman told volunteers as the day began. 鈥淵ou are standing up tall and proud, living the values that you believe and that the university holds very close and very dear.鈥�
More than 250 students, faculty, staff, and family members gardened, mentored children, and spent time with the elderly at sites around the community. The annual event was organized by the university鈥檚 Office of Civic and Community Engagement.
Freshman speech communication major Selaima Tamotuu participated in a 鈥淪peed Faithing鈥� project, where volunteers learned about various religious and spiritual beliefs and wrote letters of support to a local mosque.
鈥淚t feels so good to see so many people coming out to volunteer,鈥� she said.
The theme of the event 鈥� unity and pluralism 鈥� is something that can be achieved by working together, senior kinesiology major Matt Rodriguez said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a bunch of people with different ethnicities and religions getting together to accomplish a common goal,鈥� he said.
Volunteers had varying opinions on how King would feel about the current state of civil rights and race relations if he was alive today.
With movements such as Black Lives Matter and other groups standing up for human rights, Small Business Development Center Business Manager Fidel Gomez Garcia said the current landscape looks similar to King鈥檚 era.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e looking at something that resembles what the 60s looked like,鈥� he said.
Heidi Cook, a liberal studies major through the Campus Accelerated Program for Adults, said she thought King would be disappointed with the divisiveness in the country, but coming together for projects such as Day of Service will help.
鈥�(King) was all about people being unified and working together,鈥� Cook said. 鈥淚f he was alive, we鈥檇 be more unified.鈥�
